9
Should I tell her now, later, or never, thought the Sheikh as he tried to figure out whether the shock on this woman was real or made-up. He’d seen her file after his head of security alerted him to it. He didn’t need to ask where it came from. He knew where it came from: The same place she did.
“Alabama, USA,” the Sheikh said, looking into her eyes. “A real estate agent? That is a good cover, I suppose. At least the agent part is true.”
Kathryn stared up at him. Ya Allah, she was beautiful. Big brown eyes that were wise, wicked, and innocent all at the same time. What had those eyes looked upon in her travels? Would those eyes see him for who he truly was?
He blinked and looked away, frowning as he thought back to the way she’d moved her eyes side-to-side when he’d stood before her as he went down the line. He’d read the bit about hypnotism in her file. It sounded like a joke at first, but he’d felt something come over him when she’d pointed those mesmerizing brown eyes at him. Was he already hypnotized? Hah! Perhaps. Why else would he have blurted out that he already knew she was CIA?
“You really did not know, did you?” Hyder said when he saw how the color had left her round face for a flash. “That they leaked your file to me.”
Kathryn took a breath. She stayed silent, and the Sheikh felt his breath catch. How will she play this, he wondered.
“Of course I did,” Kathryn replied. “It was my idea to leak the file. Best to get it out in the open. If I’ve learned anything from Hollywood movies, it’s that having a secret life as an assassin really kills a relationship.”
The Sheikh’s eyes went wide and he tilted his head back and roared with laughter. He’d expected her to deny it. Perhaps even turn and run. But no, she took the hit and countered with a backhand that almost knocked him off his damned feet!
“Ya Allah,” he bellowed as the surprised laughter came hard and heavy. “You are too much. John and Mel sent me their best, did they not?”
Again he watched the shock pass through her, and again he watched her take it in and handle it. She didn’t know anything about him, did she. They’d sent her in blind. John and Mel were going all in, risking everything: Their careers, this woman’s life, and perhaps more. Much more. After all, they could not be sure how he would react, how he would play this. They took a risk, which meant they must believe in this woman—and that meant he should take her seriously. In every way.
“OK,” the Sheikh said, waiting a moment and speaking only after he saw Kathryn stay silent. “I will admit that I am indeed impressed with how you have handled yourself. You may pretend otherwise, but you did not know your file was leaked. And every ounce of color left your face when I mentioned the names John and Mel.”
“Mel would have been named in my file. Maybe Benson too, so saying their names means nothing,” Kathryn replied. “Pretending like you know them is a pretty good move, though. I’ll give you a point for that.”
Already she has composed herself, thought the Sheikh as an excitement he had not felt in years surged through his powerful body. Suddenly he wanted to play this game. He wanted to play with her. By God, he wanted her!
“Why, thank you,” Hyder said, smiling and crossing his arms over his chest. He saw the way she glanced at his heavy pectorals, and he grinned wider. “How many points before I win?”
“You won’t win,” she retorted, crossing her own arms beneath her breasts and pushing them up in a way that made the Sheikh’s cock harden so fast he almost swayed where he stood.
“What does winning mean in this game?” said the Sheikh, dropping his arms to his sides and taking a step towards her. “What is the prize?”
Kathryn shrugged. “Well, if you’re still alive in ten days, that would be a pretty good start for you, I’d think.”
The Sheikh laughed. “So you are here to kill me, are you?”
“If you read my file, you know what I do for the CIA.”
The Sheikh nodded. “A long list of some very bad people.” He paused and rubbed his chin. “I knew a few of them, actually. Yuri Gorka, for example.” He paused again, taking a breath when he saw that Kathryn’s expression didn’t change one iota. She would not be taken by surprise again. She was ready for anything now. Goddamn anything!
“You seem to know a lot about me,” Kathryn said smoothly. “And so I’ll drop the façade. No, I didn’t know my file had been leaked. And yes, I was surprised when you mentioned Benson and Mel.” She blinked, and those brown eyes softened for a moment where they’d been cold and dead when he’d mentioned the name Yuri Gorka. A chill ran through the Sheikh, and he told himself to be careful. Damned careful. This woman had taken on powerful men before, and she was the one left standing. And the fact that John and Mel had sent her in blind meant she might actually kill him if it came to that! “But I know almost nothing about you,” she said, her gaze still soft. She smiled and shrugged. “And if I’ve learned anything from daytime talk shows, an information imbalance is death to a relationship.”
The Sheikh grinned. “I do not think too many daytime talk shows use the term information imbalance, but all right. Ask me anything you want. You want to know about my history with your CIA? Go ahead and ask. I promise to answer truthfully.”
Kathryn snorted. “The promise of a man with secrets is worthless,” she said. “I need to be sure you’re being honest. That’s the only way we move forward.”
“Move forward with what?” said the Sheikh, glancing down along her strong hourglass figure and then quickly back into her eyes.
“With whatever this is,” Kathryn replied, her gaze steady, her back straight, her breasts beckoning to him. “This weird annual tryst you set up. Ten days with a woman. The only criteria being that she’s never been a whore.”
“What makes you think that is the only criteria?” the Sheikh said softly even as he hardened beneath his silk trousers. By God, he wanted to touch her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to damned well take her. Flip her over his knee and spank her beautiful bottom. Rip off her panties and spread her from behind. Push himself in so deep she’d never forget how he felt inside her . . .
“Oh, I’m sure there are other criteria,” she said with a smile. God, she was lovely when she smiled. “And since I was clearly the oldest and thickest woman in your perverted lineup, I’d say those criteria are early twenties and anorexic.”
The Sheikh grinned and shook his head. “Ah, Miss Kathryn Krane. You underestimate your puppet-masters in the CIA.”
Kathryn frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if John and Mel were able to get you into this room, into that line of ten women, then do you not think they could choose who the other nine women were as well?”
Kathryn blinked, and the Sheikh watched her process what he’d said. He waited a moment and then smiled when he was certain she’d understand what he was telling her: That he very much had a type, and she was it. Those other women were not interesting to him in the least, and John and Mel would know that. They’d set the stage in as many different ways as they could. They’d doubled down on this woman. There was no way the Sheikh was picking anyone else.
Then he saw it again, that flash of color on her face, that hint of a smile as she tried to remain stoic. Ya Allah, it affected her, he thought. The realization that she is very much my type, that I am attracted to her . . . it means something to her.
“So you are ready to move forward with this perverted, twisted tryst then?” the Sheikh said.
“I thought you’d offered to answer my questions truthfully first,” she replied.
“Indeed. Go ahead.”
“I already told you. I trust you about as far as I can throw you,” Kathryn said, shaking her head. “There’s only one way I’m agreeing to any of this.”
“I am listening,” said the Sheikh, a chill coming over him as he thought back to what he’d read about Kathryn Krane in the leaked CIA file.
“Let me bring you under hypnosis,” she said. “That’s the only way I’ll know for sure if you’re speaking the truth.”
Now it was the Sheikh’s turn to mask the emotions surging through him. “Hypnosis,” he said slowly, swallowing hard and blinking twice. “Yes, I have seen mention of it in your file. But hypnosis is no guarantee of anything. If it were, then every crime could be solved by simply bringing in all the suspects and hypnotizing them into telling the truth. Intelligence agencies would not need elaborate methods of torture and interrogation. They would just need a team of hypnotists with pendulums.” He snorted. “Ridiculous.”
“Then why not let me try?” Kathryn said, shrugging her smooth shoulders and looking him right in the eye.
The Sheikh shook his head. “Because while I do not believe in hypnotism’s effectiveness in questioning people, I do believe in its power to plant suggestions in the subject’s mind. To affect behavior.” He paused. “To make people do things.”
“And what do you think I would make you do, great Sheikh?” Kathryn whispered, taking a step toward him, her hips moving in a way that made Hyder’s swollen cock yearn to burst free.
The Sheikh blinked. Ya Allah, was she already in his head? Did he miss something? Had she gotten him into a trance already? Or was it just the sight of her heavy breasts moving beneath that flimsy black tank-top, the outline of her panties beneath those sheer red harem pants, the smell of her perfume mixed with her clean, natural scent? “I do not know what you would make me do,” he said, his voice sounding strange to him, like it was someone else speaking. “Leap to my death from this window. Drink poison.” He shook his head again. “No. It is not that simple. John and Mel arranged this elaborate ruse for a reason. I do not have the complete picture.” He paused and cocked his head, blinking. “But neither do you. And perhaps that is the point,” he muttered, thinking back to some of the discussions he’d had with John and Mel, back when they were all in closer contact.
“What do you mean?” Kathryn asked.
The Sheikh took a step toward her until he was so close he could smell her feminine musk rising up from her secret spaces. Ya Allah, she feels this energy too, he thought as he breathed deep of her scent, allowing it to bring him to a hardness that he knew would not subside until his need was satisfied.
Hyder took a slow breath. “John always believed that events in the world of espionage were too complex to predict, and so making strict plans is a waste of time and energy. He used to say that sometimes you need to set the stage and then see what happens. Put two people in a room and see what happens, see how it plays out,” he whispered, taking another step until the obscene peak at the front of his trousers almost brushed against her soft mound.
He saw her breath catch, the way her eyelids fluttered, the way the outlines of her big, hard nipples were clear and prominent as they pushed against her top.
“And what is happening here?” she whispered, a tremble in her voice as she looked up at him, into his eyes. She began to move her eyes slowly, side to side, left to right, rhythmically, without blinking, and immediately the Sheikh realized what she was doing.
And then he knew what he had to do. Stop her the only way that made sense to him in his current state. Stop her the way he wanted.
“You know what is happening here,” he growled. “But it will happen my way, not yours.”
And he whipped out his black silk handkerchief and grabbed her by the hair and blindfolded her tight, covering those mesmerizing brown eyes as she gasped and sputtered in shock.
Then he pulled her into him, crashing her body into his, and he kissed her.
By God, he kissed her.